Namdhari’s 7.62mm pistol had a Punjab licence

The Delhi Police on Sunday recovered a licensed 7.62 mm pistol and five cartridges from Sukhdev Singh Namdhari’s residence in Udham Singh Nagar’s Bazpur area in Uttarakhand. Namdhari is an alleged conspirator in the Chhatarpur shootout in which liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed.

The gun, whose licence was issued in SAS Nagar, was allegedly used in the shootout. The SAS Nagar administration is now under scanner for issuing the licence as Namdhari does not own a house (proof of residence) in the district.

SAS Nagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said, “The licence was issued in 2008, before I joined. We are verifying how he managed to get it. The Delhi Police is sending us a report. We will forward the case to the deputy commissioner for the cancellation of the licence.”

Earlier, a Delhi Police team, accompanied by Namdhari, arrived at his Bazpur residence around 8am and conducted a search operation till 11am.

Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, acussed in the Ponty Chadha double murder case, being produced in Saket court, New Delhi on Saturday. UNI Photo

Addressing the media, Delhi crime branch inspector Ashok Kumar said, “We have recovered a pistol. We are trying to find out whether it was used in the shootout.”

Namdhari’s counsel Vijay Garg said, “The police raided the house without any warrant. They are harassing him at the behest of Hardeep’s relatives.”

The Delhi Police had told a magisterial court on Saturday that Namdhari had confessed to having shot Hardeep with his pistol when the latter pointed a gun at him.